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Global Adolescent Health

Young people are central to ensuring health equity for all, yet they face a significant and avoidable health burden. There is a pressing need to prioritise sexual and reproductive health and rights and address new concerns like poor mental health, non-communicable diseases, and injury. Burnet is committed to addressing the unmet health needs of adolescents worldwide.

Our main objectives are to:

  • better understand the health needs of adolescents - and how to address these in challenging settings
  • improve the quality of data for young people through developing novel methods for data collection and sampling to assess key areas of need
  • define better indicators and data – at global and country levels - to inform responsive policy and programming and ensure accountability
  • strengthen primary health care for adolescents by making health services more accessible and building the capabilities and competencies of health care providers
  • reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and their health impact
  • improve the nutrition of adolescent girls.

We work at global, regional and country levels to:

  • develop better indicators for youth health
  • use existing data to more comprehensively describe health outcomes, risks and determinants to guide more effective investment
  • conduct research to provide a more in-depth understanding of adolescents’ health needs and the factors that contribute to poor health outcomes to inform more responsive policy and programming
  • develop and evaluate new interventions to address key health needs
  • conduct implementation research to understand how interventions can be more effectively delivered in challenging settings.

Burnet is generating new knowledge about key contributors to poor health outcomes for adolescents. We are developing and testing new tools, technologies and strategies to overcome these challenges, including using mathematical modelling to ensure that limited resources are allocated appropriately.

2,000

is the number of adolescent girls aged 12 and above participating in a longitudinal cohort study conducted by Burnet researchers in Bangladesh. The study aims to understand adolescent girls' changing menstrual health experiences and needs throughout their adolescent years and test the impacts of menstrual health on girls’ lives.

3,000

adolescents in Myanmar received improved access to respectful and non-judgemental sexual and reproductive healthcare as part of Burnet’s adolescent health research project, IMSA – Integrated Multi-Sectoral Approach to improve Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health.

1st

ever comprehensive analysis of gender inequality among 0-18-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific has been undertaken by Burnet researchers in partnership with UNICEF.

27.2%

is the prevalence of depression in 13–17-year-olds in Myanmar, as identified by researchers working with Burnet, who completed a systematic review of the prevalence, determinants and interventions of adolescent mental health in the country.

Working Groups

Burnet is an Australian-based medical research and public health institute and international non-government organisation that is working towards a more equitable world through better health.